The Long Haul
by DxCxS2
Summary: "So you don't want to get it?" Duncan asks. "No" she says her voice trailing off, "I want you to let me squeeze the crap out of your hand." A story about Courtney and Duncan's relationship from after Total Drama Action, and into Total Drama World Tour. First seven chapters inspired by Duncney Week Prompts
1. Origins

**This is my first in a collection of pieces for Duncney Week.**

** Today's Prompt is 'Origins'.**

** This will be a multichapter story, tackling Duncan and Courtney's relationship from the end of Action, and provide some explanation for World Tour.**

** I hope you enjoy it!**

Courtney is curled up against Duncan on her couch. Duncan runs his free hand through Courtney's hair.

"I can't believe you haven't seen this movie" Duncan chides.

"I can't believe you have" Courtney replies, her fingers intertwined with his. "Princess Bride is hardly a movie I'd associate with you."

"I saw it when I was like five" Duncan says. "It was the closest to horror I was allowed. Pirates! Giant rats! Quick sand! Sword fighting! Breaking rules!"

"Giant rats?" Courtney snaps as the movie begins. "This movie has giant rats?"

"Among other things" Duncan chuckles, tracing her side with his hand "It was kind of the reason I started calling you Princess."

"Explain" Courtney demands. Duncan can't help but smile. He loves when she's demanding.

"Just watch the movie" he teases.

"Fine" she pouts, resting her head on Duncan's shoulder. He kisses the top of her head and she turns red.

They watch the movie, and Courtney seems to be enjoying it. Duncan is, it feels good to sit here with Courtney, on her couch, watching a romantic comedy that didn't make him vomit.

"So when he says 'as you wish' she knows it's him" Courtney asks.

Duncan nods "Yeah, basically."

"Well it could be anyone" she argues.

"No because when he says it he means 'I love you'" Duncan replies. Courtney rolls her eyes.

"But that's not logical, I mean it could -"

Duncan kisses her lips to silence her. "Don't be a party pooper" he teases. "I thought all girls were supposed to soon during romantic movies." She frowns at him, and looks away. He pulls her closer.

"Duncan" she says a few moments later.

"Yes Princess?" he asks.

"I think I might get why you call me Princess" she replies.

"Oh really?" Duncan presses. "Why?" She doesn't answer. He elbows her. "Huh Court?"

She turns to him, red in the face. They stare at each other for a second, and then Courtney presses her lips against Duncan's and his hands fall to her waist. They aren't kissing for very long, when Duncan remembers they're in her parents house. And they're awake.

"Wait" Duncan says "The movie is still on."

"I'll pause it" Courtney says, feeling around for the remote before Duncan gets up.

"Duncan!" she says, a frustrated look in her eyes.

"I've got to hit the bathroom anyway" he pushes, but she shakes her head. "Keep watching the movie!" he gestures to the television.

"I'll pause it" she repeats in a different tone than earlier.

"No, Court-"

"I am pausing it and that is final" she states, and he grins, loving the way she takes charge in all situations.

"Fine Princess" he says with a mocking bow before heading down the hall to the bathroom. It isn't a long trip, and pretty soon he is walking back down the hallway towards Courtney's living room.

"Well I like it" he hears Courtney say. He stops.

"Well of course you do" a voice Duncan recognized as Courtney's mother's says. "It's the type of garbage boys show girls when...you know..."

"I think it's sweet" Courtney argues.

"It's sweet because it's a movie Courtney, it's not real. No one loves anyone forever. Especially when you're young. It's just life." There's a long silence. Duncan holds his breath, as he waits, waits to hear something. "When is Duncan going home tonight?"

"After the movie" Courtney lies, and Duncan rolls his eyes. "But he's coming back tomorrow."

"That's right..." her mother begins "Who is he staying with again?"

"Some cousins" Courtney answers, more smoothly than Duncan would have expected.

"Well I'm going back to the office-" Courtney's mother was saying, and Duncan realizes their conversation is coming to an end. Alarmed he runs back to the couch, not wanting to be caught eaves dropping by either of the women.

"Sorry" Courtney sighs as she enters the room "got caught up in the kitchen."

"It's cool" Duncan answers. "Let's finish up the movie, so I can head out."

"But I'll see you in the morning" she adds, sitting down on the couch and leaning on him.

"Maybe" he teases. Courtney glares at him. "Kidding Court" he says, as she restarts the movie with a scowl on her face. He squeezes her in closer to him. She fights for a moment, but then shifts into a comfortable position against him.

Courtney's alone in her room. Duncan is climbing up the wall as per the usual. He doesn't have a cousin in town. He lives a little bit over an hour out of the way. He was willing to drive the distance, until he found out Courtney was more than willing to have him stay the night.

"Well look who it is" Courtney says as she searched through her drawers. She turns to glance back at him, a smile on her face. She tries to hide it as she returns to her drawer.

"Surprised Princess?" he plays along, closing the window. He walks over to her closet.

"I moved your duffel" Courtney tells him, changing into her pajama shirt "It's under the bed." He gets down under the bed and pulls out his duffel bag. He wonders for a moment if Courtney's mom had been poking around, but he chooses not to ask. Instead he takes off his shirt and shoves it into the duffel.

When Duncan looked up Courtney was sitting on her bed with her laptop. He climbed onto the bed and kissed her shoulder. She shut her laptop.

A few hours later Duncan and Courtney are lying in bed, breathing heavily. Her eyes are fluttering closed.

"Courtney" he asks, his eyelids hanging low. "What were you and your mom talking about earlier?"

"Nothing really" she yawns rolling into him. "Why?"

"Oh nothing" he lies just as smoothly. He kisses her on her head, and her hand reaches up above him and runs through his mohawk.

"Did you set the alarm?" Duncan asks Courtney, but she doesn't answer. He looks down and she's asleep. He smiles and sighs, reaching for his phone to set an alarm.

"Dinner with your family was fun" Duncan says while they sit at the stoplight.

"Stop changing the subject Duncan" Courtney snaps "I demand to know where we're going!" Duncan chuckles to himself.

"Relax Court" he teases as he turned the corner. She grumbles to herself. "You've been really pouty lately. What's been going on?"

"Just a lot" Courtney sighs. She is tense. He is a bit tense too. She is either going to love this, or hate this, he thought to himself. He grips the wheel when he sees it down the street.

"I heard you and your mom talking the other night" Duncan says.

She looks away "Duncan!" she says with more spirit than she had a moment ago "You were eavesdropping on my-"

"Yes" Duncan cuts her off. "But that's not the point. Your birthday present...it's not..." Courtney sees he's struggling and her facial expression softens. "I'm not going to be some guy who's just-" he's thinking, grasping for words. The idea was so simple but telling it to her, it's a whole other thing. He parks the car, and she watches him from the corner of her eye. When he pulls the key out of ignition he takes a deep breath.

"Courtney, I'm here for the long haul" he says. Courtney looks confused for a moment, but when she looks to her right, her eyes grow wide with panic and excitement.

"A tattoo parlor?" she exclaims. He gets out of the car, and she follows his suit. She seems overwhelmed when she takes his hand and follows him in.

"I wanted to give you something permanent" he explains before pushing open the door. It's a small place, with a few guys he knows, and dim lighting. There aren't many customers at the moment.

Duncan talks George at the desk. he had arranged everything earlier in the day over the phone so there's no wait. George leads them to a leather chair and Duncan sits down in it. Courtney stands straight up, stuck some place between the thrill of the danger and the fear of being seen in a tattoo parlor.

The man works on Duncan's arm for about an hour. Courtney's eyes are glued to Duncan, a miss of worry and excitement in her eyes. There's a good amount of blood, and when it's done Courtney is struggling.

"What's wrong Court?" Duncan asks as the man goes into a back room.

"Duncan this is so-" she pauses looking at the heart on his arm. "It's so romantic and weird, but I love it!"

"Really?" says Duncan, his tone a bit shocked. "Well good because it's your turn next."

"Me?" Courtney exclaims.

"I bought two" he responds "One for me and one for you."

"I don't know Duncan" she says, looking around worriedly while the man was gone.

"Don't worry, mine came out fine"

"Well you've gotten a tattoo before! I am not a delinquent!" Courtney snaps "I mean, I want to be a lawyer, and if-"

"So you don't want to get it?" Duncan asks.

"No" she says her voice trailing off, "I want you to let me squeeze the crap out of your hand"

"For you Princess" he says. Her eyes light up at her nickname, and she smiles at him.

His tattoo is bandaged and Courtney gets into the chair next. Duncan holds the hand of her free arm. She doesn't cry at all, and her eyes remain focused. When it's done Courtney looks down.

"Oh crap!" she says, thrilled. "It looks great!"

Duncan laughs. "What happened to 'I'm going to be a lawyer'?"

"I can always cover it up during meetings" she argues, shooting him a glare for using her own words against her. She kisses him on the lips.

"Happy Birthday Princess" he says.

**So, for those of you who didn't get it because you haven't seen Princess Bride I'll explain.**

**Princess Bride is about this beautiful girl who lives on a farm, and this farm boy who works there. The farm boy tells her 'as you wish' in response to all of her demands, and what he means every time he says it is 'I love you'. Then all this other stuff happens, but I don't want to spoil the whole movie (however it is good and you should see it- the Princess reminds me a lot of Courtney the the farmboy of Duncan)**

**What I was attempting to allude to was that when Duncan says 'Princess' it's the equivalent of 'As you wish' which is the equivalent of 'I love you'**

**So I was attempting to tackle to origins, the meaning of Princess, and the origin of the tattoo (which in the end are Duncan's form of a commitment).**

**Anyway, I hope you liked it! please review and go check out Duncney Week!**


	2. Under the Stars

Duncan is driving back home from Courtney's house. He wasn't sure his parents believed that when he disappeared for a few days he was visiting Courtney, but he was. He didn't even think they believed he was dating her. He didn't believe he was.

When he stops at the gas station he looks up at the stars and wonders for a second if Courtney is looking up at them. He chuckles remember the last time he thought that sentiment out loud on Total Drama Action. When he gets back in the car he thinks even further back. He'd always thought Courtney was hot, but he was never really attracted to her until after the Dodgeball challenge on the Island.

He was a bit off put off, and a bit turned on when Courtney confronted him, and threatened to have him voted off. It was the first time he saw that she was a real competitor.

"What are you doing out here sulking cyclops?" Duncan teased as he walked outside. Courtney had been sitting with her back to the cabins for quite some time. "We won the challenge didn't we?"

"Could you stop calling me that?" Courtney snapped, glaring down at a paper she held in her hands.

"Sorry darling" Duncan retorted. Courtney crushed the paper in her hands.

"You know my name is Courtney" she stated without looking at him. But that wasn't what Duncan wanted from her.

"My apologies Princess" he said trying to peer over her shoulder. She turned quickly, meeting him face to face and giving him a shove.

"Ugh!" she groaned shoving him "What are you even doing out here? Shouldn't you be lighting a building on fire, or torturing Harold or something!" This was the second time Duncan saw the fire in her eyes, and the first time he was absolutely positive that he liked it.

"Well that was my question" Duncan argued "What are you doing out here?"

"Trying to relax!" she snapped. Duncan shot her an incredulous look and then began to laugh. She looked offended for a moment, but tried to shrug it off. "What?" she demanded.

"From what I'm seeing you are doing an awful job at that. But that's not too shocking since you do an awful job at everything" he teased.

"What are you even doing here!" she exclaimed "Are you trying to get me on edge?"

"Maybe" he replied. She groaned. "So what are you doing?"

"If you really must know I'm trying to find cancer" she answered.

"What?"

"The constellation" Courtney explained before Duncan could ask anything else. She glanced down at her paper and then back up at the sky.

"Oh" Duncan began "Stars."

"Yeah. Stars" she snapped.

"So you're a star gazer?" he pressed.

"If by star gazer you mean someone who finds stars and the patterns the create in the sky fascinating then yes, I am a star gazer."

"That's so cliche" Duncan commented. Courtney's eyes widened when she turned to him.

"It is not" she argued. Duncan shook his head.

"All I see are a bunch of randomly placed balls of fiery gas" he added. "I feel like Owen should appreciate them, you know, since he appreciates gas so much."

"Ha ha" Courtney said mockingly. "Well it's so much more than that. The stars can tell you where you are, what time of year it is and as a CIT-"

"Blah blah" Duncan interrupted, and she glared at him, but this time she attempted to ignore him, glaring back down at her paper. Then she looked up in the sky and frowned. "So what is it exactly you are looking for?"

"This" she said pointing down at some dots on her sheet of paper. Duncan took her gesture as an invitation to move in closer to her. This time she didn't shove him. He really didn't get a good look at the paper, because he was distracted. Even here in this shit camp she smelled- nice. When she turned up to look at the sky her soft hair brushed against his face and he tried not to blush. Blush, Duncan lectured himself, I don't blush.

"So where is it supposed to be up there?" Duncan asked.

"Right there" said Courtney pointing at a spot in the sky "I mean it should be there, and being in the middle of no where we should be able to see it." Her eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"I don't see it" Duncan finally said.

"I know" Courtney snapped. "Neither do I." She looked so frustrated, it made her so, so attractive.

"Maybe Owen's throwing you off- he's made one too many balls of gas here" Duncan said expecting Courtney to shove him again, but she didn't. Instead she let out a some what stifled laugh, her face contorting as she tried not to smile, but she just couldn't help it. And even though she wasn't angry Duncan couldn't help but think about how beautiful she was, how attractive she was becoming to him. He thought he should stop, but he didn't want to.

"You thought that was funny?" he teased.

"No" Courtney mumbled "I know you wanted to pass it off as humor, but believe me, I wasn't amused."

"Sure you weren't Princess" he said with a smile as he leaned back and looked up at the stars.

Duncan smiles as he remembers the first time he really made her laugh. He's almost home and he looks out his window at the stars and wonders if Courtney is under the stars, trying to find constellations, thinking about balls of gas.


	3. I hate thinking about you

**REALLY SHORT CHAPTER- And I'm late on the prompt sooo- Yeah. Anyways the next chapter will be on later tonight so I hope you enjoy! **

Sitting at home he can't help but think about her. He can't help but think about her smile, her laugh, her glare, her incessant talking, her fit legs, her thin arms, her tan skin, her big dark brown eyes. It's the evening time, pretty soon Duncan's mom will be done with dinner, and he'll head down and they'll ask him about his week and school and then about his long weekend with Courtney which they'll suspect he didn't have.

Duncan's mom will humor him though, and his dad will be silent, and Duncan will say very little because he's in a bad mood already. It's pretty much like this right after he leaves Courtney. Then he goes and sees his friends, stays busy (Duncan's version of busy) and then he goes back to see Courtney, and it starts all over again.

He pulls out my phone and he texts Courtney.

_Miss you Princess_

Duncan hits send and leans back onto his bed. She'll probably roll her eyes when she sees it, and then she'll struggle not to smile, a heavy blush in her cheeks. He imagines the whole scenario in his head and chuckles to himself, feeling a little bit better and a little bit worse. His phone vibrates.

_I hate thinking about you_

He knows exactly what she means when she sends it. It's not like Courtney to be overly 'touchy feely' so this text where she said she hated thinking about him, that was about as 'touchy feely' as she was going to get.

But still he hated thinking about her. Because every moment he thought about her it made him miss her that much more. He glances down at his new tattoo. It's fresh, and it's full of Courtney. It means he'll always have a piece of her, always be thinking about her, and he smiles when he thinks it will be the same way for her, thinking about him.

_What's going on tomorrow night?_

He drops the phone on his bed and stares up at the ceiling, an idea taking over. He knows what he wants to do, and regardless of her answer, well unless she's left the country or in the hospital (both of which he prayed weren't true) he was going to act.

_Saturday...Nothing I'm just going to catch up on some work_

He smiled to himself. Perfect.


End file.
